Born in Wiltshire, the son of an Irish-American mercenary settled in England - a friend of Whistler. Both encouraged Ambrose’s ambition to be an artist. Aged 15 he entered the Slade School of Art, under the tuition of Fred Brown, where he was befriended by Augustus John (they briefly shared a studio) and embarked in 1898 on a stormy affair with Gwen John who was devastated when he threw her up to be engaged in 1900 to another painter, Mary Spencer Edwards. Married in 1902, the couple moved in 1906 to 107 Grosvenor Road, Pimlico where they lived for the rest of their lives.Ambrose McEvoy began his career painting serene interior settings. However,
after 1915 he began producing portraits and eventually became extremely
successful. Most of his portraits were down of high-class women in a
sketchy style of watercolor painting. He was inspired by the work of
Gainsborough and some of his paintings emulate his influence’s romantic
styl